James Patterson

For more than 20 years, James Patterson has photographed Mississippi and the Deep South, compiling a body of commercial and artistic work. His images are infused with an appreciation for the literature, history, music, and humor of his native region. “I have one foot in the world of commercial photography, and the other in fine-art photography,” Patterson said. “A photograph should encompass all the ideals of art, design, and story. I want every picture to tell a story.” His photographs have been featured in Time, Portico, Better Homes and Gardens, George, Fortune, American Demographics, Outdoor Life, Billboard, American Journalism Review, and Garden and Gun. Patterson’s work has appeared in many newspapers, as well: The New York Times, The Guardian, The London Independent, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Clarion-Ledger, The Sun-Herald, and Planet Weekly. His corporate clients include Anderson-Tully, Merck, Warner Brothers, Malaco, Hilton, and CCD Architects. “I enjoy translating the client’s ideas into visual language,” he said. Patterson is also a contract photographer for Verbatim (formerly Getty Images), and for Associated Press assignments. As a conservation printer, he co-published Eudora Welty’s 1992 portfolio, “Eudora Welty Photographs” (Diogenes Press). “I spent time collaborating with Miss Welty on her photography,” he said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with a legendary American artist.” Patterson edited the first two books by acclaimed Mississippi watercolorist Wyatt Waters, “Another Coat of Paint” and “Painting Home.” He has focused his lens on a number of celebrities, actors, athletes, writers, and musicians: Star Jones, Robin Roberts, the cast of the TV show Duck Dynasty, Donald Sutherland, Morgan Freeman, Little Milton Campbell, Bobby Rush, Archie Manning, Eli Manning, Richard Ford, Richard Grant, Johnnie Taylor, Beth Henley, and Willie Morris. In 2015, he photographed President Barack Obama during the 50-year commemoration of the Selma civil rights march, one of many such events he has covered.